APSIL -Chapter 51 Saved the Wrong Person

The dozen or so people brought by Ding Hai never imagined that from the moment they first appeared, they had already fallen under the watchful eyes of countless villagers hidden among the surrounding bamboo houses.

Therefore, when they watched Ding Hai enter Qingfeng Xulai Hall and concluded that he would surely cruelly toy with the young masters and young lady inside like a cat playing with mice, they immediately split into three groups.

Each group consisted of seven people, and they rushed toward the nearby bamboo houses.

Even if those wealthy family guards had some ability, they believed that with careful planning and a surprise attack, they would eventually win. Moreover, they only intended to attack these three locations first and capture some hostages.

However, no one expected the first group to rush into an empty house.

The bamboo house they targeted was completely vacant.

The second group, however, had barely entered before screams rang out.

Immediately afterward came the sounds of weapons clashing and fighting.

The first group returned empty-handed, while the third group, still waiting outside their target bamboo house, became increasingly uneasy.

When they realized that the second group had encountered resistance, they immediately abandoned their target and retreated.

Then, when they heard Ding Hai’s furious roar coming from Qingfeng Xulai Hall, they reunited with their companions and immediately turned around, charging toward the hall.

But at that moment, they saw a figure suddenly appear like a ghost.

The person leapt to the entrance, lifted the bamboo curtain, and fired an arrow inside.

Then, without hesitation, he turned around, walked down the steps, and coldly faced them.

Although he only held a short bow with no arrow nocked, that young man’s emotionless expression made him seem like a legendary warrior standing alone against an army.

Unconsciously, he gave everyone an overwhelming sense of pressure.

Seeing that the situation was wrong, someone immediately blew a bamboo whistle, hoping to notify their companions stationed at the entrance of the bamboo forest.

The others, relying on their numerical advantage, surrounded the young man with the short bow.

Almost instantly—

Two bowstrings sounded at nearly the same time.

The two men charging at the front immediately collapsed.

The remaining attackers did not even see the arrows being fired. They only saw their companions fall, and their hearts were filled with terror.

They assumed the young man had fired two arrows in the blink of an eye and hurriedly scattered.

However, seeing two enemies fall from arrows, A-Liu also showed a trace of surprise.

But he reacted extremely quickly.

The two arrows held between his fingers were instantly placed onto the bowstring.

He raised his hand and fired again.

Two more arrows.

Two more enemies fell.

A-Liu threw away the short bow.

His right wrist flipped, and from behind his back he pulled out a short spear.

Although it was called a short spear, it was actually only about the length of one arm.

Yet in A-Liu’s hands, it moved like an extension of his own body.

He stabbed, thrust, blocked, and swept.

Spear shadows filled the air.

The rebels could not break through his defense at all.

Seeing that a single person was guarding the steps of Qingfeng Xulai Hall alone, the attackers became increasingly anxious.

Immediately, two men separated from the group and drew their blades toward the thick bamboo pillars supporting the bamboo house.

After all their previous plans had failed one after another, they could only hope to distract their enemies by destroying the building.

However, A-Liu’s eyes flashed coldly, yet he did not move to stop them.

Almost exactly when those two blades were about to strike the bamboo pillars—

Two dark figures suddenly rolled out from beneath the raised platform of the bamboo house.

It was Zhu Hong and another guard from the Zhao State Duke’s Residence.

The two guards caught the attackers completely off guard and immediately killed them with their blades.

Following closely behind, the other four guards who had been hiding below also rushed out.

The rebels who had been desperately resisting were horrified when they saw more than a dozen people suddenly emerge from the nearby bamboo houses.

Meanwhile, Ding Hai, who had entered Qingfeng Xulai Hall, had still not appeared.

Their formation immediately collapsed.

During the chaotic battle, one person finally threw down his weapon in despair.

“I was forced to rebel! I never wanted this!”

After that, aside from one person who chose to end his own life in desperation, the remaining attackers surrendered after realizing there was no chance of victory.

“Miss, all those rebels outside have surrendered!”

Only then did Zhanjin and Liuyin, who had been hiding behind the bamboo curtain watching the situation, excitedly shout.

Zhu Ying was both surprised and delighted.

She quickly rushed toward the entrance.

When she lifted the bamboo curtain and saw the scene of complete victory outside, her face immediately lit up with joy.

She ran outside a few steps and shouted without looking back: “A-Shou, come quickly! We won!”

Zhang Shou was only a little slower.

When he came outside and saw A-Liu covered in blood, with a short bow lying on the ground nearby, he immediately thought A-Liu had been injured.

He hurriedly called out.

But when A-Liu approached him carrying the short spear, his expression remained calm.

“The first two arrows were not mine.”

“They struck the enemies in the back. At that time, I was facing them from the front.”

“There should have been someone secretly assisting us.”

Zhu Ying was slightly stunned after hearing this.

But what surprised her even more was Zhang Shou’s reaction.

He suddenly stepped in front of her.

Then he loudly called out: “Which righteous expert secretly helped us? May I ask you to show yourself?”

If it were a villager, they would not still be hiding now.

If it were one of the guards, this would be the perfect opportunity to step forward and claim credit.

A person who seemed friendly but whose identity was unknown was the most troublesome possibility.

Seeing Zhang Shou standing protectively in front of her, Zhu Ying remembered that when Ding Hai had first announced himself earlier, she had also tried to go to the door herself, only for Zhang Shou to step ahead of her.

Her heart immediately filled with happiness.

What she admired was not merely a handsome man.

She admired a graceful gentleman with excellent character.

A beautiful face without responsibility or courage meant nothing.

She had already witnessed Zhang Shou’s knowledge, eloquence, and quick thinking.

Today, she had also witnessed his courage.

Seeing that no one answered, Zhu Ying stepped forward openly and stood beside Zhang Shou.

The short blade in her right hand had already been put away.

She smiled and said: “A-Shou, since that person doesn’t want to reveal himself, just consider him a passing hero who did a good deed without seeking recognition.”

“It’s not like someone would help us by secretly shooting arrows, then turn around and harm us with arrows too, right?”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Zhang Shou chuckled.

His mood had relaxed considerably.

A-Liu also walked down two steps, apparently intending to discuss how to deal with the prisoners with Zhu Hong and the others.

But at the exact moment everyone completely relaxed—

Zhang Shou suddenly heard a sharp sound from a bowstring.

In that split second, he even had time for an absurd thought.

Did my own bad luck prediction actually come true?

But faster than his thoughts were his actions.

Almost instinctively, he threw himself toward Zhu Ying.

However, those heroic scenes from movies where someone saves another person during danger—jumping under a speeding vehicle to save a child and so on—were much less graceful when he actually tried it.

He knocked Zhu Ying down.

But that was all.

He did not manage to roll away while holding her.

Instead, the two of them crashed directly into the newly repaired railing at the edge of the bamboo house platform.

And stopped there.

In this situation where there was nowhere to dodge and nowhere to hide, Zhang Shou immediately regretted showing off.

Then—

Someone descended from above and landed on the railing.

A long spear was raised and blocked in front of the two of them.

Without even looking at the person’s face, Zhang Shou recognized him from the familiar pants and shoes.

It was A-Liu.

But the next sentence A-Liu spoke completely froze him.

“Young master, that arrow just now was not aimed at the young lady.”

“It was aimed at you.”

“……”

Is there a crack in the ground?

Please give me somewhere to hide.

I actually saved the wrong person!

Zhang Shou screamed internally.

He would rather have heroically taken an arrow himself because of his clumsy movements than suffer this humiliation.

What kind of blind idiot shoots at me, a countryside scholar, instead of the noble young lady?

Zhu Ying clearly saw Zhang Shou struggling to stand.

His usually elegant and handsome face instantly turned bright red, like a boiled shrimp.

Although her waist had hurt from the fall and she had just gasped in pain, she could not help bursting into laughter.

She laughed so hard that she even punched the ground with her small fists.

But after laughing, she ignored Zhanjin and Liuyin, who hurried over intending to help her up.

Instead, she directly grabbed Zhang Shou’s arm.

Even tears had formed from laughing.

“In that situation, anyone would have thought the arrow was aimed at me.”

“I didn’t expect A-Shou’s movements to be so quick…”

Stop praising me…

Right now, I only want everyone to forget what just happened!

Zhang Shou wanted to cover his face.

But more than that, he wanted to capture that damned assassin and cut him into pieces.

As if heaven had heard his silent curse, another voice suddenly came from the darkness.

“It was worth waiting here for so many days.”

“I actually managed to catch such a cunning fellow!”

Almost the instant they heard that voice, Zhu Ying’s face lit up with joy.

“Uncle Hua!”